Leicester City striker Chris Wood scored a goal in each half but the visitors’ reply came after conceding a four-goal deficit as the Samurai Blue raced out of the blocks led by the sharp movement and quick feet of Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa and AC Milan’s Keisuke Honda.
After narrowly missing a chance to take the lead in the second minute via a free kick, the All Whites went behind two minutes later when Shinji Okazaki profited from hesitation in the New Zealand defensive unit to prod past the advancing Glen Moss.
Three minutes later the lead was doubled as Kagawa earned and converted a spot kick and when Masato Morishige headed in from a free kick in the ninth minute the 47,000 fans were enraptured. Okazaki made it 4-0 seven minutes later when his shot slipped through Moss’ grasp.
But from that point the young All Whites side, including two debutants who shone out in Tyler Boyd and Ryan Thomas, began to assert themselves and climb slowly back into the contest.
Beginning to cultivate their own periods of possession as the first half went on, the All Whites were rewarded initially as Wood made the most of a difficult position on the by-line and curled the ball home from a tight angle seven minutes before the break.
Wood’s second goal came with 10 minutes remaining in the contest, a well-taken volley from Tim Payne’s whipped delivery pulling the All Whites back to within two goals and Emblen’s side could have had more after several near misses. But the same could be said of Japan in what was a fast-paced second half which saw Hiroshi Kiyotake hit the post and Moss make a stunning save from a Honda freekick.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, All Whites interim coach Neil Emblen said the side’s horrific start was frustrating because it contrasted so greatly with the remainder of the game.
“I wish it had started 10 minutes into the game,” Emblen said. “When you make mistakes, individual errors, communication mistakes and with good finishing from Japan, the game was already over.
“We haven’t made Japan earn the goals, we’ve given them away. That was disappointing because after then we had plenty of chances of as well. We could have scored more goals as well and that was really encouraging.
“For 80 minutes we were pretty competitive, scored a couple of good goals and put in a good performance in my mind.”
After tweaking the All Whites shape at halftime, Emblen felt his side had a much firmer base in the second half which helped the young team edge themselves back into the contest.
We changed to a 4-1-4-1 and from that point on we did do better,” Emblen said. “So I have to look at myself and maybe say we should have played that formation first up.
“I didn’t feel that Japan took their foot off the gas. We just played better, upped our standard a little bit and looked a little bit more organised at that was the biggest difference.”
Wednesday’s game was the last match at the historic venue in Tokyo with the stadium set to be rebuilt ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in the city.
Kirin Challenge Cup 2014
Japan 4 (Shinji Okazaki 4’, 16’, Shinji Kagawa – pen 7’, Masato Morishige 9’,)
New Zealand 2 (Chris Wood 38’, 80’)
Halftime: 4-1
New Zealand: 1. Glen Moss (GK – capt), 6. Bill Tuiloma (Ben Sigmund 59’), 7. Tyler Boyd, 8. Michael McGlinchey (Chris James 58’), 14. Ryan Thomas (10. Rory Fallon 82’), 15. Storm Roux (21. Cameron Howieson 67’), 17. Kosta Barbarouses (16. Jeremy Brockie 67’), 18. Tim Payne, 19. Michael Boxall, 20. Chris Wood, 22. Andrew Durante
Substitutes not used: 12. Jacob Spoonley (GK)
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz

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